How time flies when you’re having fun driving (and photographing) boats. After 5 years, I was required to re-new my Master’s 100 ton license permitting me to commercially operate steam, motor, or auxiliary sail vessels in Federal waters and up to 100 miles off the coast.
Today I received my renewal.
As many of you know, at age 18, along with my brother, Joe, four years previously, we received our mariner’s “Z” card; shipping out as Ordinary Seamen on a re-flagged Zim Israel Navigation Company trans-Atlantic bulk cargo ship: m/v Tamara Guilden. The “Z” card is no longer extant (nor is the Tamara Guilden). The “Z” card is simply an MMD or Merchant Mariner Document.
The m/v Tamara Guilden at 500 feet long, was small compared to today’s Panamax and even small “handy max” ships. We carried 30,000 tons of Grade 2 wheat from Texas Cargill grain elevators to the Dagon grain silo at the Port of Haifa, Israel. The ship operated under Public Law 480 which in part, underwrote US agricultural crop support by distributing American crop surpluses. The law, sponsored by then Senator Hubert Humphrey stipulated a percentage of vessels carrying the surplus must be American “bottoms,” hence ZIM got in on the act by re-flagging one of its classy vessels, with an American Captain and crew; including Joe and Jonathan Atkin! Also on deck we had interesting cargo of a different sort, F-4 Phantom jet aircraft and missiles, all encased in saltwater protective plastic. We were “of interest” to Cuban Migs buzzing us at mast height, and Mediterranean submarines (nationality unknown) following us..or at least their periscopes did. Crew grumbled we should have gotten war zone pay!
Side note: the author of PL 480 by the way, written for Senator Humphrey was the late Maury Atkin. That he was on the board of Zim shipping didn’t hurt the re-flagging either!
Side note: 2. Maury Atkin also had a Master’s license issued in the 1960’s and later re-issued at a larger rating in Trust Territories of the Pacific… His original license, was for only 16 tons….not 100 but I dare say he was and will always be a far more skilled mariner than I can ever hope to be.
Side note 3: The former Masters license was a gorgeous printed, affair with a simulated engraving and all kinds of visual wonderment…far more interesting than most college degree certificates…a bold and visually arresting document that most Captains were proud to frame in the wheel house. (a recent email after I posted this, from a USCG friend mentioned that on the reality TV Show “Deadliest Catch” a crewman was filmed griping about the new documents…..rather than the former more glorious version..so it ain’t just my perception!!.)
Today it has been reduced in the name of efficiency to a “passport” format booklet…no longer gorgeous tho sports a handy dandy plastic pocket for our TSA issued “TWIC” security credential. Simply utilitarian. While the good looking “Z” card has long been passed over to a plastic card, its rating is now included on my Master’s Credential…so I’m officially licensed to be a full Captain with 4 stripes on my shoulder and drive a boat up to 100 tons as well as don overalls and rigorously chip paint on the deck of any vessel of any size.
Below is the current “passport” version and the former beautifully printed license.
fair winds
